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Hidden in the shadows and buried deep within the sands of time lie the remnants of great secrets, and even greater treasure. As the release of The Elder Scrolls Online draws ever closer, I attempt to unveil the fog of war to expand our understanding of the past, present and future fate of Nirn. This series will explore people and places of legend, artifacts and weapons of extraordinary power, and the impact they’ve had on shaping the land of Tamriel.

A few weeks ago while I was busy procrastinating on a final report for school, I happened to stumble across a forum discussion almost 5 years old that talked about some of the content removals that took place before Oblivion was released. One of the posts mentioned the “City of Mir Corrup”, something I had never heard of before. While references and information about this city was difficult to find, it was enough to prove that another city in Cyrodiil was left to be discovered.

There are a total of 3 different references (4 books total) that mention Mir Corrup as a city. The first and earliest reference to this location can be found in Book Five of 2920, The Last Year of the First Era, a series detailing how Emperor Reman Cyrodiil III and his son were assassinated by the Morag Tong. The book has one passage describing the arrest of Queen Rijja Cyrodiil at the hot springs of Mir Corrup, describing how, “The rock shelf over her head sheltered her from the misting rain, but let all the sunshine in, streaming in layers through the branches of the trees” and mentioning the existence of the Lord of Mir Corrup. This can be interpreted as either referring to the assistant of the Count (the ruler of a city) or as the owner of the estate itself, hinting that Mir Corrup may have originally been privately owned before becoming a city.

The second reference of the city was found in A Dance in Fire v3, a story of an Imperial clerk's journey into Valenwood during the Five Year War. The mention is small, but was one of the most important clues in identifying the city’s location. As Decumus Scotti swam from a burning boat, “He thanked Mara that he had learned to swim. Many a Cyrodiil did not, as largely land-locked as the Imperial Province was. Had he been raised in Mir Corrup or Artemon, he might have been doomed…” This information is helpful in that it tells us that the city is land locked, and can't be near any major rivers or bodies of water.

The most detailed reference is spread out over the two book series called Palla, about a mage who attempts to bring a woman back to life through necromancy. The entire book itself is set in the city of Mir Corrup, giving details such as the fact that it was once a luxury resort for the rich during the early Second Era, information supported earlier by Book Five of 2920. The springs were apparently created through the use of magic, ultimately leading to the Mages Guild starting their own charter in the area. Over time the popularity of the city as a resort diminished, resulting in the local mages having “bitterness at being at a backwater Guild.” One of the most important details I found was a comment on the relative location of the city, being in a “desolate, wooded corner of the Imperial Province” with a “wet, sometimes cold Cyrodilic climate”.

These details helped to paint a basic picture of what Mir Corrup was like in its early years and inevitable atrophy, but the actual location of the city was still a mystery. I had recently downloaded Oblivion onto my computer for research purposes, and I concluded that this would be the perfect time to use it.

I decided that to begin my search in the North Eastern corner of the Imperial providence, north of Cheydinhal near Lord Rugdumph’s Estate, immediately reminding me of how Lord Drad’s Estate appeared to boarder the previous location of Sutch. Although the area matched the description relatively closely, the quantity of boulders and uneven topography in the area made me second guess the location. As I was exploring it began to snow, and I concluded that the area was too far north into the mountains to be the location for Mir Corrup.

As I traveled farther south, I was astonished at how extensively the Valus Mountains rose over the heartlands and Nibenay Basin, making it nearly impossible to navigate the steep slopes. My next point of interest was to look to the west of Lake Canulus where the border between Cyrodiil and Morrowind came to a point, creating a “desolate, wooded corner”. As I climbed a hill further East, I was doubtful I found find anything of significance; that is, until the land quickly plateaued and became clear of large boulders. The plateau was nearly the size of Cheydinhal, extending to the boarder oh Morrowind and into some of the Valus Mountains to the North. Maps and images taken through the command prompt showed characteristics extremely similar to near Sutch, allowing me to conclude that I had found the correct location!

With the (hopefully correct) location of Mir Corrup discovered, I began to research into what might have caused the city to suddenly vanish. The city had existed as far back as the First Era, and A Dance In Fire was set during the Five Year War which took place from 3E 395 to 399. Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion takes place during 3E 433, leaving a timeframe of approximately 30 years for the city to completely disappear off the map. While it may simply be an error on the part of Bethesda in forgetting about the city, I've identified 2 possible reasons for the city's disappearance that remain canon to existing lore.

The first reason is very similar to why Sutch was lost to history, being that the majority of the records regarding the city were lost during a time of crisis such as the Interregnum. Ironically, The Five Year War was only one of multiple wars that took place during the Imperial Simulacrum, caused by the kidnapping and impersonation of the emperor for nearly 10 years (the main quest line for Elder Scrolls: Arena). There is a good possibility that the city was destroyed during this period of chaos, but was never recorded.

The second potential reason comes from information from the Mehrunes' Razor official plug-in, adding an extremely large dungeon and new Ayleid city, Varsa Baalim. History claims that the city "vanished" in a similar fashion as Mir Corrup, although it was unknown if it was done purposely or was caused by a natural disaster or divine intervention. Although the Ayleid city was lost during the early First Era, history could have repeated itself and sank Mir Corrup as well.

Regardless of the cause of the city's demise, it will be interesting to see if Zenimax is willing to add or release more information about it and expand our understanding of Tamriel's heartland. Those of you with a keen eye may have noticed the mention of a second city from A Dance in Fire called Artemon, but I have been unsuccessful in finding any information whatsoever regarding its history or location. Nevertheless we have still discovered one more lost city, and I'm certain that we'll find many more throughout the continent of Tamriel.

(May 13th 2013 05:37 AM)Garbrac Wrote: At blizzcon 2010 there was a guy at one of the Q&A sessions, who asked a simple question, a question that has made this guy infamous among the Developers of World of Warcraft.

It was only a matter of time, waiting in the background for that perfect chance to ask that perfect question.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Elder Scrolls Online community it is an honour to introduce you to the ESO's version of The Red Shirt Guy